| Our Game: Part I: The Players Contributor(s): Cvetich, Joe (Author) |
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ISBN: 1679639056 ISBN-13: 9781679639050 Publisher: Independently Published OUR PRICE: $13.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2020 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Fiction | Sports |
| Physical Information: 0.84" H x 6" W x 9" (1.22 lbs) 378 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: According to Ainsley Sparks, writing for BookNet Canada, "That Canadians love hockey should come as no surprise, nor should the fact that Canadians buy quite a few books about the subject as well. From memoirs of star players, to ABC books for babies, and everything in between, books about hockey can be found on the shelves of many Canadians." In 2018, BookNet, in order to help celebrate the 100th season of the NHL, compiled a list of the 100 top-selling hockey books in Canada over the previous 5 years. The list contained 100 non-fiction books. Our Game fills the glaring void on the above list and in the great tradition of hockey writing: it is a novel about the game. Like Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities, at 440,000 words, the novel is an epic story that attempts to capture the essence of a certain time in Canadian society through an examination of one its most revered institutions: the game of hockey. Like Fredrik Backman's Beartown, there is no central protagonist, but a central question: What does the game of hockey mean in a modern, changing society? A brief synopsis: On a late November night in 2005, a nation gathers to watch a Saturday night tradition: Hockey Night in Canada. Played out on the ice of Toronto's ACC, during a heated moment between two original six teams, punches are thrown and a player is knocked unconscious. He dies a few hours later. A player is charged for the murder and the game, its traditions and rituals, is put on trial. Our Game is split into 3 distinct parts: Part I: The Players. It tells the stories of how the twelve players who are on the ice that night make it to the pinnacle of their profession. The players come from across the world and a variety of backgrounds, each moving from innocence to experience as they climb the ladder of success before reaching their ultimate goal: the NHL. Part II: The Game. It takes the reader through the lives of the characters during the week leading up to the game, then into the dressing room and onto the ice on the fateful night, then through the subsequent reactions of the players, the hockey world, and society at large to what happened. Part III: The Trial. It explores how each player deals with the uncertainties and insecurities of the game's aftermath and the subsequent trial. Where do their loyalties lie: to the team, the game or themselves? As the stories of these characters unfold, many issues emerge that extend far beyond the ice: What role do traditional institutions play in shaping the views and attitudes of today's boys and men? How are girls and women viewed and treated by the men who run and play the game? How are 'new' Canadians, people of colour and different sexual orientation treated by old and traditional institutions? How are issues of mental health perceived by the public and people in power? The ultimate question this book asks is the following: is the game of hockey a positive force for unity and equality in this country, or is it one that divides us and is ultimately destructive? At the end of 2019 the game of hockey has reached a reckoning. The NHL, in the words of Commissioner Gary Bettman, is undergoing "a broader, thorough review and process that the league is undertaking. We share a mutual objective: ensuring that hockey is an open and inclusive sport at all levels." Our Game is a timely contributor to the discussion. |